RESUMEN
A pipeline transporting crude-oil broke in a nature reserve in 2009 and spilled 5100 m(3) of oil that partly reached the aquifer and formed progressively a floating oil lens. Groundwater monitoring started immediately after the spill and crude-oil recovery by dual pump-and-skim technology was operated after oil lens formation. This study aimed at documenting the implementation of redox-specific natural attenuation processes in the saturated zone and at assessing whether dissolved compounds were degraded. Seven targeted water sampling campaigns were done during four years in addition to a routine monitoring of hydrocarbon concentrations. Liquid oil reached the aquifer within 2.5 months, and anaerobic processes, from denitrification to reduction of sulfate, were observable after 8 months. Methanogenesis appeared on site after 28 months. Stable carbon isotope analyses after 16 months showed maximum shifts in δ(13)C of +4.9±0.22 for toluene, +2.4±0.19 for benzene and +0.9±0.51 for ethylbenzene, suggesting anaerobic degradation of these compounds in the source zone. Estimations of fluxes of inorganic carbon produced by biodegradation revealed that, in average, 60% of inorganic carbon production was attributable to sulfate reduction. This percentage tended to decrease with time while the production of carbon attributable to methanogenesis was increasing. Within the investigation time frame, mass balance estimations showed that biodegradation is a more efficient process for control of dissolved concentrations compared to pumping and filtration on an activated charcoal filter.
Asunto(s)
Monitoreo del Ambiente , Restauración y Remediación Ambiental/métodos , Agua Subterránea/química , Contaminación por Petróleo , Petróleo/análisis , Contaminantes Químicos del Agua/análisis , Biodegradación Ambiental , Hidrocarburos/análisisRESUMEN
The main aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of source zone bioremediation by nitrate and nutrient injection in a crude-oil contaminated aquifer using a recirculating well dipole. Groundwater pumped from a downgradient well at a rate of 2.5m(3)h(-1) was enriched with bromide (tracer), nitrate and ammonium phosphate and injected in a well 40 m upgradient. The test was run for 49 days with solute injection, followed by 65 days of dipole operation without solute addition. The resulting bromide breakthrough curve allowed quantifying a first-order leakage coefficient of 0.017 day(-1) from the dipole, whereas from the nitrate data a first-order nitrate consumption rate of 0.075 day(-1) was determined. Dissolved hydrocarbon concentrations including benzene decreased to non-detect in 84days but experienced important rebounds after ending circulation. Nitrite accumulated temporarily but was consumed entirely when solute injection stopped. The mass balance calculations revealed that about 83% of the nitrate was used for hydrocarbon degradation, with the remaining being used for oxidation of reduced sulfur. A reactive transport model was used for the delineation of the treated zone. This model suggested that denitrification influenced flow and transport in the dipole. It is concluded that successful promotion of denitrifying hydrocarbon degradation is easily obtained in this aquifer and enables to abate dissolved concentrations, and that dipole configuration is a good option.